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Brown didn't hold back the punches when listing his reason for the move.

"At a time when children, the disabled and seniors face painful cuts to essential programs, the state of California cannot justify a massive expenditure of public dollars for the worst criminals in our state," Brown said in a statement he posted on his Web site Thursday.

He went on to say it would be unconscionable to spend $356 million to improve death row while making severe cuts to the state's most vulnerable.

The improvement plan goes back to the Gray Davis years. The new facility would have had room to house 1,152 inmates. Right now California has fewer than 700 awaiting their death sentence.

Assemblymember Jared Huffman, who represents the area that includes San Quentin, applauded the move calling it "the Cadillac Death Row project." Huffman put the savings far above Brown's number. Huffman claims it would have cost $1.6 billion to build.